Public Invited to Weigh In on Proposed Transportation Improvements

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Metropolitan Transportation Commission

Jul 05, 2012, 07:50 ET

OAKLAND, Calif., July 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) will hold a public hearing July 11, 2012, to receive public testimony on the Draft 2013 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for the Nine-County San Francisco Bay Area, which lists projects and transportation investments planned for the next four years. MTC also will take comments on an evaluation of the air quality impacts of the proposed transportation projects, found in the Draft Transportation Air Quality Conformity Analysis for the 2013 TIP. The hearing will take place in San Francisco, during MTC's Programming & Allocations Committee meeting, on Wednesday, July 11, 2012, at 11 a.m., or immediately following MTC's Administration Committee meeting, whichever occurs later. The location of the meeting is 390 Main Street, San Francisco.

The Draft 2013 TIP is a comprehensive listing of near-term surface transportation capital projects for the nine-county Bay Area that will receive federal funds or are subject to a federally required action or are regionally significant. The projects listed in the Draft 2013 TIP reflect transportation priorities contained in MTC's Transportation 2035 Plan for the San Francisco Bay Area, a 25-year policy and spending blueprint that guides all MTC programming decisions. The Transportation 2035 Plan was adopted by the Commission in April 2009 after an exhaustive public involvement effort. The Bay Area's Draft 2013 TIP includes approximately 900 transportation projects, and a total of approximately $11.2 billion in committed federal, state and local funding over the four-year TIP period through fiscal year 2016.

Copies of the Draft 2013 TIP and Draft Transportation Air Quality Conformity Analysis are available for public review at the MTC Library, 101 Eighth Street, Oakland, and at major public libraries in each of the nine Bay Area counties, and on the MTC website: www.mtc.ca.gov/funding/tip/2013. For more information, or for the location of the library closest to you, call MTC's Public Information Office at 510-817-5757.

Prior to the formal consideration of the 2013 TIP and Transportation Air Quality Conformity Analysis, MTC will hold a public hearing and receive public testimony:

Public Hearing:	MTC will hold a public hearing on the Draft 2013 TIP and Draft Transportation-Air Quality Conformity Analysis during MTC's Programming and Allocations Committee meeting on: Wednesday, July 11, 2012, at 11:00 a.m., or immediately following MTC's Administration Committee meeting, whichever occurs later, at 390 Main Street, San Francisco.
Getting to the Public Hearing:	A map of the San Francisco meeting location and transit directions can be found here: www.mtc.ca.gov/about_mtc/390_main.htm. Note that MTC also will be providing free shuttle service to 390 Main Street on an ADA-accessible van from select transit hubs in downtown San Francisco on the day of the meeting; details are on the map page listed above, or call MTC's Public Information Office at 510-817-5787.
Written Comments:	Written comments may be submitted to MTC's Public Information Office at: 101 Eighth Street, Oakland, CA 94607; faxed to MTC at 510-817-5848; or sent via e-mail to [email protected].
Deadline for Comments:	Written comments are due by 5 p.m. on Thursday, August 2, 2012. For more information, call MTC's Public Information Office at 510-817-5787.

At its September 12, 2012, regularly scheduled meeting, MTC's Programming and Allocations Committee will consider public comments received by the end of the public comment period. MTC is scheduled to approve the Transportation Air Quality Conformity Analysis and the Final 2013 TIP on September 26, 2012, during its regularly scheduled Commission meeting. Once approved by the Commission, the Final 2013 TIP will be forwarded to Caltrans, the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration for approval and inclusion in the Federal Statewide Transportation Improvement Program.

MTC is the transportation planning, coordinating and financing agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

SOURCE Metropolitan Transportation Commission